I would have to say that our teams are probably closer to 90% EL. I personally go back and forth just based on how I feel each day. I spent most of last year using balanced but switched to EL in Vegas.

We used all versions of the Dudley bats for the last few months of the season and didn't have any endcap issues so not sure why you are having the issues. We did have a lot of issues with Worth Ligits and Ultra 2's knobs coming off the bats. I like those bats but hated losing an at bat during a game because the knob would come off.

I have had the same problem noted by others with the sole separating on Boombah's by the toe and the return process is painful. I have had 2 pairs that have done the same thing after not much use so it definitely appears to be a design flaw.

Can anyone provide comment on the Tannel and Salomons with respect to fitting a wide foot and how heavy they are compared to Boombahs? That would be very helpful so I appreciate any feedback that anyone can offer.

Joel 1975. I have no problem with the HR limit as it exists. I just think that the rule needs to stay the same and anything over the limit is a DBO. I think it fair and reasonable to say the same rule that got us there is what should be played.

I haven't really paid attention to the spin of the ball off the bat but I will just say that both the balanced and the 13" barrel Dudley bats performed very well when I used them compared to other bats I have used. Maybe I should be worried more about what the spin was but I really only care about what the performance was that I experienced and how the bat feels to me when I swing it. I intend to swing Dudley in 2015.

JDub - Right on with that idea. The HR rules could change a lot if we didn't use those bats. It's crazy in Vegas when you think you popped up and a ball still goes out. That's just not the way it is supposed to be.

OZ40 - Sorry - not picking on you personally but there have been a few posts this year about coin flip issues and whether you should take home or visitors. I'm not concerned with us being home or visitors so I don't get wrapped up in the coin toss outcome.

The home runs rules are good the way they are. We got bumped to major plus this year (which is fine) but it will put us at a disadvantage if the home run rules are changed because we are more about defense and we can control the bats when needed. We didn't hit our HR limit much last year at major so I don't see us hitting it next year in plus. If you can just hit it over the boards at will, it doesn't allow our defense to come into play as much. It wouldn't seem fair to bump us because of being successful under one set of rules and then change the rules that allowed for us to succeed. As for the comments about more balls going middle when teams are out of HRs, I just never saw that this past year. It may be because we play a five man infield but it just never happened.

I will send an email about the 1-1 count though. As an outfielder, it is frustrating when it's 100 degrees out and you watch each batter take so many pitches while your melting away. I'd rather play where you have to hack away.

The coin flip comments are pretty silly though...who cares who calls it and I still haven't seen any data showing home team wins more than visitors. It's who cares all around on that one.

In Men's 50 Majors, Team USA won a 3 team tournament (East) and obtained the #1 seed in the brackets, which gave them a first round bye. They went on to lose their next 2 so they were 0-2 in tournament play.

Cornerstone won a 9 team tournament (West) and obtained the #2 seed. They went 3-2 in tournament play.

I did not see either team play so I cannot comment other than those are the facts for how they performed with respect to wins and losses. My opinion is that all of the teams that played were capable of beating any other team so who knows whether the seeding of those teams is reasonable or not. I'm sure the seeding benefit is used to try to draw teams to Eastern and Western championships which apparently didn't work in the East but weather may have been a factor there.

I personally don't care when we play if we are home or visitor, each has advantages. I think it would be interesting to review the data from a tournament like the World Masters and see what that data says over that many games. My GUESS is that it wouldn't appear to make a difference over that many games but it would be very interesting to see what the numbers say.

If I recall information in the newsletter a while back, the younger players wanted 1-1 count and older 0-0. How about 40, 50 and 55 play 1-1 and 60 and over play 0-0. I think your numbers supported that but I'd have to go back and check where the break actually was. If the age where the majority wants to use 1-1 count is actually different, then we just use whatever that age is.

My personal opinion is that 0-0 is extremely slow and boring to play. The 1-1 count makes the batter be more aggressive. I play 50s so my opinion is in line with the metrics.

Is it possible to have different rules for different age groups? if so, that looks like a potential solution.

Actually, I think anyone can post photos to the Senior Softball USA Facebook page but that depends how you have it set up. You could get some free labor by having anyone there at a tournment location taking a picture of a bracket and posting it on that page. May be worth testing it.

I think the idea for the updates on the SSUSA Facebook page is perfect. It takes very little time and will draw more people to your page. We have a Facebook site for our club and we use that to keep everyone up to date with scores as we go along during a tournement so everyone that wants to follow can do that. It doesn't take much time at all to do that. Maybe 1 minute after each game.

I'm an outfielder so take this for what it is worth. The balls get through more quickly but the hops are true. The balls bounce more but easy to read if you have someone hit a few grounders to you to get the feel. You should lime it over playing on dirt.

I would imagine that not too many tournaments get rained out or experience rain delays for the SoCal Championships. Sounds like some bad luck for those that played. We have to deal with that all year in the Midwest.

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